17
The king asked, "Have the seals been broken, Daniel?" "No, Your Majesty, they have not been broken," he replied.
18
As soon as the door was opened, the king saw the empty table and shouted, "You are great, O Bel! You really are a god."
19
But Daniel began to laugh and said to the king, "Before you enter the temple, look at the floor and tell me whose footprints you see there."
20
"I see the footprints of men, women, and children," said the king,
21
and he became so angry that he had the priests and their families arrested and brought to him. They showed him the secret doors through which they had come in each night to eat the food placed on the table.
22
So the king had the priests put to death, and he gave Bel to Daniel, who destroyed the idol and tore down its temple.
23
There was also a huge dragon which the Babylonians worshiped.
24
One day the king said to Daniel, "You can't tell me that this god is not alive. So worship him!"
25
"I worship the Lord," replied Daniel. "He is the only living God.
26
And if Your Majesty will give me permission, I will kill this dragon of yours without using a sword or a club." "You have my permission," answered the king.
27
So Daniel took some tar, some fat, and some hair and boiled them all together. He made cakes out of the mixture and fed them to the dragon. When the dragon ate them, it swelled up and burst open. "That's the kind of thing you Babylonians worship," said Daniel.